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Buddhist Architecture of Buddha Shrines in Thailand and Myanmar During the 14Th – 15Th Centuries

Buddhist Architecture of Buddha Shrines in Thailand and Myanmar During the 14Th – 15Th Centuries

of in and during the 14th – 15th Centuries

A part of a research project entitled “The Architecture of Buddha Shrines: A Cross- Cultural Study of Thailand, Burma, and .” supported by The Thailand Research Fund (TRF) and Architectural Heritage Management and Tourism Program, Faculty of Architecture, Silpakorn University Chotima Chaturawong, Ph.D. This paper aims to compare the architecture of Buddha shrines in Thailand and Myanmar during the 14th to 15th centuries when was widespread in .

Photos: Chot Kanlayanamitra, Dictionary of Architecture and Related Art. ที่มา: โชติ กัลยาณมิตร, พจนานุกรมสถาปัตยกรรมและศิลปเกี่ยวเนื่อง Mondop

The comparison will focus on the architecture of Buddha shrines known as mondops and in Sukhothai and , Thailand; and cave temples, tazaungs (a pavilion established near a ), wuts (an image ), hpaya-hsaungs (Buddha hall), and dhammasalas (a preaching hall) in Myanmar. Photo: A. B. Griswold, Pra Yun Reconsidered. Pagan (11th-13th centuries)

Chiang Mai (13th-16th centuries)

Si Satchanalai Pegu Sukhothai (14th-16th centuries) Martaban (13th-15th centuries) (13th-14th centuries)

Maps of Thailand and Myanmar , Orissa Parashurameshwara Temple, Orissa (dated 7th century)

Mandapa

Mandapa garbha graha

Mandapa, a term, means a pillared outdoor hall or a pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture. Mandapa can be established next to an image shrine, garbha grha; or precede an antechamber of an image shrine; or be separate from a temple. Mandapa can be enclosed totally with walls or partly with walls or without any walls. The architecture of mandapa in Southeast Asia also shares similarities to that in India; for instance, mandapas in and Vietnam. These had a rectangular floor plan, were the site of ritual ceremonies, and were located to the front of an image shrine.

prasat antarala mandapa (a front room)

Banteay Srei (first half of the 12th century) However, the term, mondop in Thai architecture referred to a square building enshrining a Buddha image or sometimes multiple images. It is likely created later and developed from the term mandapa. Its role was parallel to an image shrine (garbha grha) of Hindu and Buddhist architecture in India and Sri Lanka.

Photos: Chot Kanlayanamitra, Dictionary of Architecture and Related Art. ที่มา: โชติ กัลยาณมิตร, พจนานุกรมสถาปัตยกรรมและศิลปเกี่ยวเนื่อง Wat Suan Kaeo Utayan Noi, Si Satchanalai

Mondops were found in both Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai, the twin city of Sukhothai. Si Satchanalai was located to the north of Sukhothai and was emerged before Sukhothai was founded. mondop [assembly hall]

Wat Sa Patum, Si Satchanalai 1.

5. 6.

1. Wat Si Chum 2. Wat Chetuphon 3. Wat Traphang Thong Lang 4. Wat Ko Mai Daeng 3. 5. Wat Si Thon 6. Wat Tuk

2. 4. Wat Si Chum, Sukhothai Mondop, Wat Si Chum, Sukhothai Buddha Shrine, Wat Chetuphon, Sukhothai

Mondops, Wat Si Chum and Wat Chetuphon = equivalent to [memorial], the oldest term for a stupa, which can refer to other objects of worship, a and a Buddha image. During the period, Buddha images were popular among Mahayanists; however, image houses became more popular in period of Polonnaruwa (11th-13th cent). khong phachao, khong prasat

vihara

Source: Chaiyot Itwaraphan and others, Vihara Lai Vihara Lai Kham, Wat Pha Sing, Chiang Mai Kham, Wat Pha Sing. Chiang Mai in northern Thailand or Lanna also had mondop called khong or khong prasat or khong phachao

Khong refers to boundary or area or a shrine of a Buddha image; phachao means a Buddha image parallel to the term hpaya in Burmese. The term khong probably shares the same root with the words khon-lwa in and khan-wa in Burmese meaning abode or dwelling place. Furthermore, it likely relates to the term khan and a-khan in Burmese and a-khan in Mon influenced by the Burmese referring to a room or a chamber. Thai and Khmer also have a term a-khan meaning a building.

khong phachao, khong prasat

Source: Chaiyot Itwaraphan and others, Vihara Lai Kham, Wat Pha Sing. khong phachao, khong prasat

vihara

Source: Chaiyot Itwaraphan and others, Vihara Lai Kham, Wat Pha Sing.

A Buddha shrine called hpaya-khan hpaya at a Burmese brick Buddhist -khan in Pagan is likely parallel to khong phachao in Lanna, they refer to a chamber or a shrine of a Buddha image. After Pierre Pichard, “Ancient Burmese .” Khong Phachao as a miniature shrine Butsabok (small so that only one person prasat or nobody can enter) (with porticos)

Butsabok, prasat, mondop, traditional Thai architecture crowned by a pyramidal roof mondop (without porticos) pyathat

gu-hpaya; bhut or wut; tazaung; hpaya-hsaung; and dhammasala (Gu-hpaya, cave temple), Pagan (dated 11th century)

3 3 1 2 1 2 1. hall 2. gandhakuti taik Naga-yon Temple 3. circumambulation Pahto-tha-mya Temple path

3 3

2 1 1 2

Myinkaba Kubyauk-gyi Temple Abe-ya-dana Temple Abeyadana

Myinkaba Bhut, Kado Taik , Kado Village, Moulmein Bhut or Wut Bhut or Wut, Myatheindan Pagoda, Martaban Tazaung was usually built to the front or surround a stupa as a place to worship a stupa and to protect devotees from the sun and rain. Tazaungs later enshrine Buddha images or a bell or a . Hpaya-hsaung, Buddha hall

Taikdaw Monastery, (19th century) Hpaya-hsaung, Taikdaw Monastery, Mandalay (19th century) Wat Traphang Thong Lang

A Sukhothai mondop and a vihara or a pillared pavilion to the front were like a brick monastery of Pagan. A brick monastery of Pagan included a small brick dwelling brick for a monk with an attached pavilion open pillared pavilion to the structure front to receive guests and deliver .

rebuilt

Shin Arahat Monastery, Pagan Monastery in India during the Buddha time also had mandapas; for example, Karerimandapa [Kareri pavilion], a mandapa made from Kareri (varuna) trees.

It was built next to the front door of Karerikutika, which was named after the mandapa. Karerimandapa to the front of Karerikuti probably was its reception area as Karerikuti was small. 1 pavilion 1: a-ley-hpaya khan [central Buddha shrine]

Figures: Pierre Pichard, “Entre Ajanta et Mandalay, L’ Architecture Monastique de Pagan.” Dhammasala of Minnathu Le-myet-hna Monastery, Pagan Dhammasala of Minnanthu Le- Myet-Hna Monastery completed in 1223.

The term dhammsa appeared on the inscription of the Minnanthu, derived from dhammasala and originated from dhammamandapa. The inscription described the dhammasa as a hall built of brick for people to listen to dharma. Minnanthu Le-Myet-Hna Monastic complex

3 4

1

library 2 1. Le-myet-hna gu-hpaya 2. 3. Monastery for the chief monk or senior monks 4. Dhammasala or dhammamandapa After Pierre Pichard, Inventory of Monuments at Pagan, vol. 2 Drawing: Pierre Pichard, Inventory of Monuments at Pagan, vol. 2

Big Buddhist monasteries of Pagan had a separate building called dhammasa or trya em [house of dharma] or trya kyaung [school of dharma] for dharma preaching held on every sabbath day during the Buddhist lent, once in the morning and again in the evening. Dhammasala have also been found in Sri Lanka dating from the Anuradhapura period (c. 250 B. C. E. to 1029 C. E.). It was known as dhammamandapa, which later became dhammasala. It was a pavilion or a hall where dharma was delivered and located either at a monastery or a public area.

Dhammamandapas continued to be constructed during the Polonnaruva period, King Parakramabahu I (c. 1153 – 1186) erected five dhammamandapas in Polonnaruva; however, none have survived. Dhammasala still exist at present Sri Lanka and Myanmar; in the former, it is a multi-purpose building for dharma preaching, the chanting ceremony, and sometimes as a monastery school.

In Myanmar, dhammasala is called dhammayoun, which becomes a community hall for religious purposes, including dharma preaching, and is erected at several monasteries, pagoda compounds, and villages and towns. The comparison study of Buddha shrines in Thailand and Myanmar can provide indigenous architectural characteristics as well as links to the history, culture, and religion among the people in two countries. Wat Pha Sing, Chiang Mai

It can lead to better understanding of traditional Thai architecture as well as that of the Burmese and Mon and the in Southeast Asia as the whole when Sinhalese Buddhism replaced Buddhism from India after the collapse of Pagan, when the Mon in Lower Burma gained independence, and Sukhothai emerged in the 13th century.

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